26 Oct Healthy Hints for Christmas
With Christmas just literally days away we wanted to give out some information to help you to make healthier choices this Christmas. Now obviously it’s a time of celebration and time to let your hair down, however this can be done with healthier alternatives to just the usual Christmas binge.
With the array of common desserts available every Christmas and the desire to let the hair down it can be hard at times to have any sort of self-control. Our first rule of thumb for this Christmas is to keep it gluten free. Although this doesn’t make it any less dense in calories it at least wont have the extreme bloating effect that the gluten filled desserts will. This may also limit your options as to how many desserts are on offer. Secondly if you’re cooking them, limit how many desserts you actually serve up this Christmas.
Our second Rule is limiting the snacks on offer. Every Christmas my family put an abundance of nuts, chips, chocolates, rum balls, biscuits and plenty of other options out on the table. If it’s not there it won’t get eaten. Have a fruit platter with some cheese and olives on offer for the peckish few.
Limit the alcohol intake by drinking a big cup of water between every drink. If you don’t fill up, at least you will be keeping well hydrated and keep the system flushing through.
Keep active! Have some fun outdoors. Play some friendly sports with the family. Run around with the kids. If you don’t have kids to play with or a very active family then be the change you want to see. Get up and do 30-50 squats or burpees before your meals. This will kick start your anabolic (muscle building) window. Get out and go for a run Christmas morning/night.
Choose the events/day to binge. Limit the holiday celebrations. Although Christmas is a one day event we have a great tendency to blow it out to a week or two of celebrations. If you have a heap of functions to attend this Christmas, limit yourself to a certain few in which you can ‘cut loose’.
Last of all, don’t be weird. Go and enjoy the time spent with your friends and family, a day of eating and enjoyment wont ruin your physique. Where you’ll come undone is if the day turns to days or weeks. Stay in control and have fun.
Below is a list of some common desserts served up around Christmas. We have added the calorie intake per serving of each dessert (notice it varies between each dessert). We’ve also listed some basic facts on calories you burn doing certain exercises…
Common Christmas Desserts:
Pavlova – 327calories in 135g slice
Fruit cake – 139cals per 45g piece
Trifle – 46 calories per tablespoon
Rum balls – 86 calories per ball
Cheese cake – 321 calories in 100g slice
Tiramisu – 601 calories per piece
Vanilla Ice cream – 273 calories per 1 cup
Ginger bread – 200 calories per biscuit
White Christmas – 190 calories per piece 3.5cmx2.5cm
1 hour of the following exercises will burn roughly:
Hitting the heavy bag (boxing) burns 420 calories
CrossFit class burns 450-550 calories
Cycling burns 680 calories
Frisbee burns 256 calories
Pilates burns 280-300 calories
Running burns 700-800 calories
Surfing burns 250-350 calories
Swimming laps burns 550-650 calories
Walking burns 220-300 calories
Weight lifting burns 250-500 calories (dependent on intensity)
